Riyan Parag was touted as one of the emerging stars when he featured in India’s triumphant U-19 World Cup campaign back in 2018.

A year later, the youngster was acquired by Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INR 10 lakh. During the IPL 2022 mega-auction, RR bought him back as he continued to turn up for the same franchise.

Riyan polarized the fans and experts with his on-field demeanour in the IPL 2022 as he indulged in a heated exchange with the likes of Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj.

Nonetheless, the 21-year-old has confidence in his skills and he recently displayed it at the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022, amassing 552 runs from 9 innings at an average of 69 with three hundreds.

Now, the Assam lad has only one goal and that is to represent India at the highest level.

“I have been prioritising myself and my opinions about myself. I can surely play for India in the next years so I am just sticking to that and working, working and only working towards that,” Riyan told Cricketnext in an exclusive chat.

Riyan Parag feels some people have misunderstood him for his celebrations and he won’t change his approach.

“There is this thing in India where cricket is supposed to be played in a certain way. There’s a rule book for cricket I feel that only successful players can celebrate and you can do this you can do that. I started the game because I loved it and enjoyed playing the game,” he said.

“And that’s how I play my cricket… even if it’s the IPL or school game back home. I am not going to change my way of playing cricket or the way I celebrate. It’s just that I have fun. People nowadays have taken out fun from the game, it’s a very serious game (laughs). I like to play my cricket in a very fun way. That’s not going to change. If people want to change their opinion, they can. Even if they don’t, it doesn’t really matter because I am very content with myself.”

Further speaking on the same, Riyan said people notice his celebrations but don’t pay heed as to why the Royals management decided to retain him.

“Everyone talked about how the management backed me but no one really threw light on why they are backing me. That only the team and management know.”

(Cricketnext inputs)